help preserve Michigan’s historic lighthouses. When a plate is purchased, $25 of the $35 additional fee and all $10 of subsequent fees go toward the Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program, administered by the State Historic Preservation Office at MSHDA. Since 2000, the program has awarded more than $2 million in grants to lighthouse stewards for the rehabilitation of these historic structures.

According to a release, the new lighthouse license plate design will be a more representative depiction of all of the state’s lighthouses. The old plate is a specific lighthouse, the White Shoal Light. "Lighthouses have been protecting ships from treacherous waters in Michigan since the establishment of the state’s first lighthouse, the Fort Gratiot Light, in 1825. More than 240 lighthouses once guarded Michigan’s shores. Today, only 124 of these iconic structures remain."